The funniest thing about this video is what a big deal this guy Ian Bremmer thinks it is. Two world leaders having an informal side session at the G20 is about as surprising as me eating chicken, but he thinks he's got himself a major scoop:
The second funniest thing is his quandary for the ages about why oh why Trump and Putin could possibly be getting along personally, given the not-so-great state of relationships between the two countries. This is a mistake people have made for ages - conflating the personal relationships between heads of state with the geopolitical stances of their respective nations.
If Trump and Putin can forge a respectful personal relationship, that can help get us through the difficulties inherent to a relationship between nations that have conflicting interests in a number of areas around the globe. It doesn't mean those difficulties won't continue to exist.
Of course, most of the media sees stuff like this through their Trump/Russia/Collusion prism, so they're sure they've uncovered something dark and sinister. If I were Trump and Putin, I'd do exactly exactly what they appear to have done here - have one conversation that's announced for public consumption, and then have a second one where you get down to real business, away from the lights.
Bremmer's analysis is hilarious precisely because he insists on overanalyzing a fairly ordinary event on the world stage. How could these men possibly be getting along and talking to each other? Because they're professionals and that's what they do. Only in the world Ian Bremmer occupies is this hard to understand.
